Desaru Coast dives into lifestyle events market to boost visitorship

Desaru Coast in Johor, Malaysia, is being groomed as a lifestyle and events destination to attract more visitors; Desaru Coast Adventures Park pictured

Desaru Development Holdings One, the master developer of Desaru Coast, is grooming the young integrated destination in southern Malaysia to host events and festivals to attract visitorship and more eyeballs at a swifter pace.

While Desaru Coast is home to five-star international hotel brands, a conference centre, a water park, two championship golf courses, a retail village and a 17km pristine beachfront, it remains relatively unknown to overseas travellers, partly due to it being only a three-month-old development.

To promote the destination, Desaru Development Holdings One is working with partners to curate its own signature events, including the Desaru Coast Gourmet Series, which will feature an international food festival in 2020.

CEO Roslina Arbak revealed that plans are also underway for a series of concerts and music festivals featuring local and regional acts next year.

These events will join the Ombak Festival which debuted in July 2019 to celebrate local arts and culture. Coinciding with the launch of Desaru Coast, the Ombak Festival attracted 16,000 visitors, mainly locals. More activities will be presented in the second edition next year to attract a larger number of regional visitors.

Arbak added: “Our events strategy in future includes working with independent partners to host international events. This follows our recent success in welcoming the inaugural Desaru International Bike Week 2019. Held last month, the four-day event attracted more than 50,000 bikers over four days.”

The developer is committed to hosting the Ironman Multisport Festival Desaru Coast for the next three years, with the first edition commencing on April 17-19, 2020.

It is also leveraging the government’s national initiative, Visit Malaysia 2020, as well as the Johor state government’s Visit Johor 2020 campaign, to develop joint marketing activities to raise awareness of Desaru Coast, positioning it as a premium tourist destination.

-TTG Asia.

https://desarucoast.com